International Rescue Committee (IRC)

Rehabilitation for disabled refugees

Photos: 
<p>Poe Law, 58, who suffers from a muscular disease, exercises in the IRC&rsquo;s center for disabled refugees in the Ban Mai Nai Soi refugee camp. <span><em>Photo: Peter Biro/IRC</em></span></p>
<p>Juh Meh, a staff member at the center, helps a refugee, Nya Reh, with his exercises. <span><em>Photo: Peter Biro/IRC</em></span></p>
<p>Kwae Reh makes a plaster cast for a prosthetic leg in the center&rsquo;s workshop. <span><em>Photo: Peter Biro/IRC</em></span></p>
<p>When a polypropylene leg is finished it is fitted with a rubber or wooden foot. <span><em>Photo: Peter Biro/IRC</em></span></p>
<p>Maung Maung lost a leg to a landmine in 1990. He now crafts prosthetic limbs in the IRC workshop at Ban Mai Nai Soi. <span><em>Photo: Peter Biro/IRC</em></span></p>
<p>Maung Maung helps as Hae Pweh Mu, 18, is fitted for a prosthetic arm. <span><em>Photo: Peter Biro/IRC</em></span></p>
<p>Kwae Reh (left) and Suh Reh make a cast for Hae Pweh Mu&rsquo;s prosthetic arm. <span><em>Photo: Peter Biro/IRC</em></span></p>
<p>Suh Reh lost his left leg to a landmine in 2005. &ldquo;At first I could only walk for ten minutes on my artificial leg before I became exhausted,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t keep my balance and I fell all the time.&rdquo; <span><em>Photo: Peter Biro/IRC</em></span></p>
<p>Suh Reh (left) and Juh Meh make a home visit to Taw Reh, a disabled refugee. Taw Reh, who was left partially paralyzed after a stroke, exercises at a purpose-built beam. <span><em>Photo: Peter Biro/IRC</em></span></p>
<p>Nye Ree Oo, 11, was born with cerebral palsy. He is one of many patients who regularly receive physiotherapy by the IRC staff. <span><em>Photo: Peter Biro/IRC</em></span></p>

In a sprawling refugee camp in Thailand, an IRC rehabilitation center and prosthetics workshop serves disabled refugees from Myanmar. It is equipped with weights, exercise bikes and other rehabilitation equipment, and artificial limbs are constructed in an adjacent workshop.